Research shows that macOS is vulnerable to malware and PUA too

AV-Comparatives releases report of 2020 Mac antivirus test

INNSBRUCK, TIROL, AUSTRIA, June 29, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Independentantivirus testing lab AV-Comparatives has released the report of its 2020 Mac certification test and review of security programs for Apple’s macOS operating system.

7 consumer products and 2 business solutions were put through theirpaces on macOS Catalina systems.

Six consumer products passed the test and were certified by the Austrian testinstitute. These are (in alphabetical order):

Tested Products

Avast Security for Mac, AVG Internet Security for Mac, Avira Antivirus Pro for Mac, Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac, Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac and Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac. The two enterprise products, CrowdStrike Falcon Prevent for Mac and FireEye Endpoint Security for Mac, were likewise approved.

Certification

To be certified, products had to demonstrate a high degree of protection againstprevalent Mac threats, and produce no false alarms with common, legitimate software for macOS. Approved products also had to provide protection without slowing the system down, have real-time protection, carry out essential functions reliably, and avoid confusing the user with misleading alerts.

Research shows that macOS is vulnerable to malware and PUA too

Malware research by AV-Comparatives has shown that viable malicious programs targeting macOS are still being produced, and that Mac users are not immune to cyberattacks. There has been rapid growth in potentially unwanted applications (PUA) for Mac recently.

Potentially Unwanted Programs

AV-Comparatives also tested each product against a wide array of potentially unwanted programs for macOS, and the results of this are included in the report. Additionally, all participating products were tested for their ability to detect Windows malware. This ensures that Mac users do not inadvertently pass on malicious Windows files to family, friends or colleagues. Results of the Windows-malware detection test can also be found in the report.

How to keep a system safe

As well as the test results, the report includes general security advice to Mac users on how to keep their systems safe. There is also an in-depth review of each product, describing its installation and daily use, and how it alerts the user when malware is found. Readers are thus given a picture of how easy the products are to use.

Peter Stelzhammer
AV-Comparatives GmbH
+43 720 115542
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